FREE LINE 03 - Page 124

Heritage is
Important
Part 3 By Paul Harris
T
he following year I
moved onto Linch Hill.
Linch provided me
with some of the most
frustrating times of my
carp fishing career.
There was an amazing head of big
carp in the three lakes on the complex, especially Christchurch. Unfortunately, even though you could get a
season ticket, day tickets were still
allowed at that time on Christchurch
and Stoneacres, and Christchurch
suffered as a result. I knew after just a
couple of sessions that this place
wasn’t going to be for me, but as it
was only five minutes from my front
door, I stuck at it. In the spring, many
times I would push my barrow down
to Christchurch only to have to turn
back again as it was completely full
up! What a nightmare, and what a difference after Yateley and Elstow 2.
The fishing on Linch was not what I
would call rock hard, but it was amazingly tricky. The fish liked their small
baits, and fake corn was definitely the
way to catch them on there. Also this
was where I saw the zig rig for the
first time. Anglers were catching on
tiny pieces of rig foam between 10
and 13ft off the bottom! Also they
were catching them in the middle of
the night like this! I couldn’t get my
head around this, and still can’t today,
but I did catch like this myself! I did
meet some incredibly gifted young
anglers on here, and one in particular,
Danny Aplin. These guys were light
years ahead of me with regards this
type of fishing, and with the big head
of fish in there really put it to good use
with big hits of big carp. I caught a
few, and had a dabble on Stoneacres,
and had a few nice ones out of there,
but really Linch just wasn’t for me.
If you remember earlier, I mentioned that I had got permission to
fish a day-only water on a trout fishing complex. Because Linch was so
124 FREE LINE
(Above) 23lb 4oz Linch Hill
Christchurch 2003.
(Left) Christchurch Lake, summer
evening 2003.
(Below left) Jamie & Mark, Elstow 2
barbecue.
busy, I found myself giving this water
some attention now, and even started
a baiting campaign that lasted several
months. The trouble was when I
started fishing it, I started to catch
tench over my baited spots, and not
just one or two! The great thing about
this water was that hardly anyone
else fished it and I NEVER saw
another carp angler fish it. During
that summer of 2003, I did a lot of
walking around looking for carp,
especially on the red hot days, and I
came to the conclusion that there
were between six to ten carp in there,
and probably the lower figure. I did
set eyes on a very large fish, which
was a sandy colour, and one afternoon I found her right in the edge
having a grub about. It’s hard to put a
weight on fish like this, but she

FREE LINE 03 - Page 124

Heritage is
Important
Part 3 By Paul Harris
T
he following year I
moved onto Linch Hill.
Linch provided me
with some of the most
frustrating times of my
carp fishing career.
There was an amazing head of big
carp in the three lakes on the complex, especially Christchurch. Unfortunately, even though you could get a
season ticket, day tickets were still
allowed at that time on Christchurch
and Stoneacres, and Christchurch
suffered as a result. I knew after just a
couple of sessions that this place
wasn’t going to be for me, but as it
was only five minutes from my front
door, I stuck at it. In the spring, many
times I would push my barrow down
to Christchurch only to have to turn
back again as it was completely full
up! What a nightmare, and what a difference after Yateley and Elstow 2.
The fishing on Linch was not what I
would call rock hard, but it was amazingly tricky. The fish liked their small
baits, and fake corn was definitely the
way to catch them on there. Also this
was where I saw the zig rig for the
first time. Anglers were catching on
tiny pieces of rig foam between 10
and 13ft off the bottom! Also they
were catching them in the middle of
the night like this! I couldn’t get my
head around this, and still can’t today,
but I did catch like this myself! I did
meet some incredibly gifted young
anglers on here, and one in particular,
Danny Aplin. These guys were light
years ahead of me with regards this
type of fishing, and with the big head
of fish in there really put it to good use
with big hits of big carp. I caught a
few, and had a dabble on Stoneacres,
and had a few nice ones out of there,
but really Linch just wasn’t for me.
If you remember earlier, I mentioned that I had got permission to
fish a day-only water on a trout fishing complex. Because Linch was so
124 FREE LINE
(Above) 23lb 4oz Linch Hill
Christchurch 2003.
(Left) Christchurch Lake, summer
evening 2003.
(Below left) Jamie & Mark, Elstow 2
barbecue.
busy, I found myself giving this water
some attention now, and even started
a baiting campaign that lasted several
months. The trouble was when I
started fishing it, I started to catch
tench over my baited spots, and not
just one or two! The great thing about
this water was that hardly anyone
else fished it and I NEVER saw
another carp angler fish it. During
that summer of 2003, I did a lot of
walking around looking for carp,
especially on the red hot days, and I
came to the conclusion that there
were between six to ten carp in there,
and probably the lower figure. I did
set eyes on a very large fish, which
was a sandy colour, and one afternoon I found her right in the edge
having a grub about. It’s hard to put a
weight on fish like this, but she